8 Real Secret Societies

founded in 1872 the Bohemian Club is an exclusive invite only organization intended for men and only men who consider themselves devoted to the Arts the club's motto is weaving spiders come not here which is supposed to remind members to leave politics and business talk at the door whether they truly do that is a matter of debate it's rumored that in 1967 Reagan and Nixon discussed the upcoming Republican primaries at Bohemian Grove hi I'm Aaron McCarthy and this is the list show from clandestine meeting houses to shadowy initiation rituals it's it's easy to see how secret

societies have captured the imaginations of those of us on the outside today we'll peer in the windows of mysterious clubs that may or may not be responsible for the world as we know it we'll discuss not so secret societies like the Freemasons and answer the question what do ston workers have to do with a fraternal organization and get into lesser known groups like The Bullington Club let's get [Applause] started membership in the Bohemian Club has its perks the most coveted is perhaps the yearly retreat in somoma where members fly in over the course of two

weeks to spend time at the 2700 acre Bohemian Grove to attend various ceremonies rituals and networking opportunities the Bohemian Grove is made up of over a hundred different camps with names like Hillbillies Mandalay Lost Angels caveman and Owl's Nest among the famous faces who have been Grove members over the ages are George HW Bush Clint Eastwood Richard Nixon Ronald Reagan Mark Twain and Jack London Walter kronite was also a member at one point he provided the voice for the club's massive owl statue that spoke to members during Opening Ceremonies if you think all of these

people and events sound a little Posh you're not alone after a visit to the club in 1882 Oscar wild noted I've never seen so many well-dressed well-fed business-like looking Bohemians in the whole course of my life since the Bohemian Club has been notoriously all male since its Inception an enclave of powerful women started their own annual retreat in 2001 called The basian Grove this group is mostly made up of accomplished women in their 50s and 60s who turn to each other for the type of advice and networking that only those at the top of the

ladder can apparently give the group is highly exclusive it has just 331 members according to the New York Times past Grovers have included Supreme Court Justice Sonia Soto mayor who stepped down from the club before taking her seat on the nation's highest court as well as CEOs and high-ranking Executives at companies like NASDAQ Proctor and Gamble Goldman Sachs and Nordstrom a current list of members is hard to come by every January or February these illustrious ladies attend a 4-day retreat to escape the stress of their day jobs and make cross industry connections over the years

ban Grove has added Charters to include younger Generations as well there's Tara which stands for today's already Rising Achievers an offshoot that admits women in their 30s and 40s who are rising fast there's also Naomi specified only as the youngest cohort of the basian Grove women who are already amazingly successful contributors to a greater good some well-connected folks claim membership in multiple secret societies George HW Bush for example was a member of the Bohemian Club and skull and bones the Yale student organization that counts John krey William Howard Taft time founder Henry loose and basically

all the male members of the Bush family as members the society was co-founded In 1832 by Alfonso Taft President Taft's father and William Russell a college junior who supposedly learned a lot about secret societies when he was studying abroad in Germany more on that in a minute Russell returned to the US determined to start his own group and approach Taft who happily co-signed and while the club itself is famous little is known about what actually goes on behind the doors of its headquarters known as the tomb leaked stories that may or may not be true

include a hazing ritual where members lie naked in a coffin and talk about their sexual exploits there's also the disturbing accusation that the society stole the skull of Apache warrior gono in 1918 and placed it on display in their headquarters although skull and bones is arguably the most famous secret society in New Haven it's certainly not the only one y's roster of clo and diger clubs includes scroll and key wolf's head Book and snake and the Elizabethan Club just wanted to talk about Joshua Jack let's move on to a club that's less about who you

are and more about where you've been the Explorers Club headquartered in New York the Explorers Club is made not just for people with a sense of adventure but those who have actual scientific or Geographic achievements under their belts think Edmund Hillary summiting Everest or Ernest shackleton's Antarctic Expeditions their headquarters is stuffed with interesting artifacts like the sleigh from Robert Perry's 1909 North Pole Expedition the mini Explorers Club flag that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren carried with them to the moon and of course a stuffed whale penis members must apply to take an official flag with

them on Expeditions one such flag has been to both the highest point and the lowest point on Earth in addition to their achievements the Explorers Club is also known for eating extremely exotic meals at their annual dinner it was rumored that in 1951 they ate a 250,000 year- old willly Mammoth DNA testing revealed later that it was actually a turtle the stated purpose of the independent order of Odd Fellows really isn't odd at all it's to help the community work towards unity in peace and promote friendship the order traces its roots back to 18th century

England where men who worked odd jobs with no Guild or Union banded together the O made its way across the pond and was granted a charter in 1820 eventually there was a split in the movement creating the independent order of OT fellows despite their good Community Works in recent years the I has perhaps become best known for the trail of skeletons it is left across the US I'm not speaking metaphorically as the organization fell out of fashion their lodges closed and the buildings were abandoned or sold when new owners began Renovations they often made the

alarming discovery that a skeleton or two had been left behind sometimes these were plaster skeletons no more Elissa than Halloween decorations but sometimes they were the real deal the remnants of an initiation ritual meant to remind members of their own mortality as part of the ritual blindfolded and sometimes chained participants were LED through darkened rooms when they stopped and the blindfold was removed initiates found themselves eye to eye with a real skeleton it's thought that some bones were obtained through Medical cataloges but others were almost certainly the victims of grave robbing I know what you're

thinking and yes the Illuminati are real but probably not in the way you think at least not as far as we know let's talk about the things we do know the facts the order of the Illuminati was founded in 1776 in Bavaria by a professor named Adam viop Vice Hop's goal was to encourage open debate and free speech among members and ultimately decrease religious influences on society he first opened up membership to a handful of his law students but the idea spread like wildfire and soon there was a network of more than 2,000 members across

what is now Germany France Hungary Italy and Poland the Bavarian Illuminati membership was very young it said they initially didn't trust anyone over the age of 30 the society existed for a decade before the government shut the group down and exiled Vice but did the Illuminati really cease to exist that's been the debate ever since by 1797 the first conspiracy theory had sprouted up physicist John Robison alleged that the Illuminati had simply joined the Freemasons and continued their teachings that same year Augustin Burell theorized that the Illuminati had masterminded the French Revolution Illuminati Panic even

spread to the US where Thomas Jefferson was accused of being a member he wasn't or was he you can learn more about the internet's most loathed Andor loved secret society in our video covering 11 real facts about the Illuminati the Bullington Club is a society at Oxford University that was founded in 1780 as a hunting and Cricket Club but it quickly became known for its debauchery in fact the Future King Edward VII had to leave the Bullington Club after his mother Queen Mary heard that things were getting a little too rowdy the club was so

Infamous that evil and W even wrote about them in his 1928 novel Decline and fall thinly disguised as the bowling her Club only a handful of Oxford students are tapped every year those who make the cut wake up to their rooms being destroyed former UK prime minister David Cameron recalled finding a group of people making a ter racket with one of them standing on the legs of an upended table using a golf club to smash bottles as they were thrown at him former prime minister Boris Johnson was a member during Cameron's Bullington tenure as well

the society is still going as a supper club today perhaps toned down in its Antics although its past reputation still precedes it we can't get out of here without talking about the Freemasons can we the largest and least secret secret society of them all the Masons are said to trace their Origins to an actual Guild founded in the Middle Ages that supported you guessed it Masons Stone workers had a tendency to travel for their jobs so they were often more worldly than others in their hometowns over time when the Masons gathered they talked more about

government and world events than they did their actual trade eventually they began accepting members who weren't even in the profession which also served the purpose of boosting its coffers with a wave of new membership dues Masons are a fraternity so it's male only but women who are relatives of a Mason can join the affiliate Order of the Eastern Star famous Freemasons the the list is long George Washington Mozart FDR Houdini Winston Church Hill C bazy Medgar Evers Dave Crockett Buzz Aldren Oscar wild Charles Lindberg thur Good Marshall and that's just to name a few there

are so many important Masons that it's easy to see why there are conspiracy theories about Mason's controlling the world from behind closed doors According to some insiders they're really just doing charity work handling Lodge financials and Logistics and playing cards let us know in the comments below if we left out your favorite Secret Society we'll see you next time